Short-tailed Snake
The Short-tailed Snake is a small harmless snake. Fossorial and seldom seen, it is found only in sandy, upland parts of Florida where it is listed as Threatened and is protected by state law. It is usually considered to be the sole member of the genus Stilosoma which dates to the late Miocene and is included with milk snakes in the colubrine tribe Lampropeltini. Etymology The short-tailed snake's tail comprises less than ten percent of the snake's total length, hence the common name. Named by A. Erwin Brown in 1890Boulenger, G.A. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume II. London. p. 325, Stilosoma extenuatum derives its generic name from the Greek stylos for pillar and soma for body. This refers to the stiffness of the short-tailed snake's bodySchmidt, K.P. and D.D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York., which is caused by its wide and inflexible column of unusually short vertebrae. The specific name, extenuatum, is Latin for thin or slender. Physical description The short-tailed snake is a small serpent averaging 36-51 cm (14-20 inches) with a record measurement of 65.4 cm (25¾ inches)Conant, Roger. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, 2nd edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston., and is perhaps as thin as a pencil. It is gray above with 50 to 80 dark blotches and may or may not have a yellow stripe running down the spine. The underside is white with dark brown blotches. It bears a more-than-superficial resemblance to the kingsnakes, especially the mole kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata), but can be distinguished by its smaller size and much more slender build.Wright, A.H. and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London. Also, Stilosoma extenuatum has 6 upper labials, whereas kingsnakes (genus Lampropeltis) have 7 upper labialsSmith, H.M. and E.D. Brodie, Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Press. New York.. Behavior The short-tailed snake is as poorly understood as it is seldom-seen, rare and geographically limited. It is a burrowing snake that rarely appears above ground and does so even more rarely during the day. Like other snakes of the tribe Lampropeltini, it vibrates its tail when startled by predators or people but can be distinguished from a rattlesnake by its slender build and lack of rattle. An excitable snake, it makes a poor captive and is protected against harassment or captivity by Florida law. Despite this, much of what little we know about the short-tailed snake has been based on observations of captive specimens. Diet Captive specimens show a keen preference for black-crowned snakes of the genus Tantilla and will often eat them exclusively, rejecting other species of small snake or lizard. It is possible that black-crowned snakes, some of which are themselves small, burrowing snakes endemic to Florida, comprise the entire diet of wild short-tailed snakes. Habitat and range Found only in a handful of counties in central Florida, the short-tailed snake prefers sandy-soiled, pine or oak woodlands but may be found in other habitats provided it has access to prey suitable soil for burrowing. Evolution and taxonomy As a member of the Lampropeltinine tribe, Stilosoma is ultimately derived from Old World rat snakes that crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America more than 20 million years ago. More recently, Stilosoma is a relict of the Miocene "Florida Island", separated from the mainland by higher sea levels. It is closely related to the kingsnakes and still bears a resemblance to the mole kingsnakes which are also found in Florida. One fossil species, Stilosoma vetustum dates from the late Miocene, some 5-10 million years ago. How far divergent Stilosoma is from its kingsnake ancestors is still a matter of debate. In 2009 Alex Pyron and Burbrink resolved to include it in the kingsnake genus Lampropeltis based on multiple lines of molecular and morphological evidence. References Brown, A.E. 1890. On a new genus of Colubridae from Florida. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 42: 199-200 Carr, A.F. Jr. 1934. Notes on the Habits of the Short-tailed Snake, Stilosoma extenuatum Brown. Copeia, 1934, pp. 138–139. External links * Fossil snakes of North America: origin, evolution, distribution, paleoecology * http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Lampropeltis&species=extenuatum nl:Lampropeltis extenuatum Category:Colubrids